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COURTESY PHOTODr. David Fisk
Santa Barbara county hospitals have seen a rise in hospitalization over the past week due to the tridemic.
As the county and the rest of the nation deal with COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and the flu, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the bivalent vaccine for use down to six months of age.
The approval comes as hospitalizations increase.
“There has been a significant change in the last week,” Dr. David Fisk, medical director of infection prevention and control for Cottage Health, told the News-Press Friday.
“A significant increase in COVID-19 cases in hospitals has led us to reopen a dedicated unit to COVID-19 patients with adults driving the majority of the overall increase,” Dr. Fisk said. “Previously numbers were small enough that patients were cared for in rooms with specialized air filtration.”
Dr. Fisk, though, did report some good news: “RSV in the pediatric division has diminished in the last two weeks.”
In Santa Maria, Marian Regional Medical Center has seen admissions increase, Dr. Chuck Merrill, the hospital’s chief medical officer, told the News-Press Friday.
“So far, COVID-19 admissions have been relatively stable, but the disease has not been as severe as with previous variants,” he said in an email. “We have seen an increase in RSV admissions, primarily in children, but we are beginning to see signs it may be tapering off some.
“Influenza cases have risen slightly, and we do typically see an increase in these types of infections over the winter months — especially as people gather for the holidays,” Dr. Merrill said. “Let me remind your readers it is not too late to be immunized against influenza (the vaccine looks like a good match for the circulating strains) and COVID-19 (the bivalent vaccine appears to be effective against the current circulation variants).
“Despite the slight increase in admissions, Marian Regional Medical Center remains prepared and ready to care for the community,” he said.
On Thursday, the FDA amended the emergency use authorizations of the bivalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to include use in children down to six months of age.
“More children now have the opportunity to update their protection against COVID-19 with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, and we encourage parents and caregivers of those eligible to consider doing so — especially as we head into the holidays and winter months where more time will be spent indoors,” FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a news release. “As this virus has changed, and immunity from previous COVID-19 vaccination wanes, the more people who keep up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations, the more benefit there will be for individuals, families and public health by helping prevent severe illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.”
The next step is for the Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to recommend the vaccine for this age group. The CDC typically follows suit with the approval of the FDA.
“It is highly likely that ACIP will endorse this,” Dr. Fisk told the News-Press. “They have the prerogative not to. However, they have largely mirrored the FDA decisions. I’m strongly in favor of the FDA endorsement because the vaccine has proven to be an extraordinarily safe medication and in pediatrics has proven to be extraordinarily safe.
“The impact of COVID-19 infection in infants has to consider not only death and severe disease, but features we are just beginning to learn about involving long-term impacts in terms of brain function and aging,” Dr. Fisk said.
He added that the medical community is assessing COVID-19 in infants and the possible development of long COVID.
“The vaccine is linked to reduced risk of long COVID, which is one of many reasons why I favor the FDA decision,” said Dr. Fisk.
The News-Press asked Dr. Fisk about the likelihood of infants developing long COVID.
“We don’t have a great assessment because infants can’t report symptoms of long COVID, but we have enough knowledge of the prevalence of long COVID to expect infants are impacted as well,” Dr. Fisk explained. “We are extrapolating our knowledge of other age groups in this discussion. A key reason to endorse vaccination in this age group is that the more we look for evidence of longer term damage to our body, the more we find evidence of it.
“Our understanding is still very early on, but many medical health professionals are concerned about health impacts 20-plus years down the road,” Dr. Fisk said. “When we have opportunities to use a safe vaccine, we should leverage that.
“The main thing readers should pay attention to is once again there is a lot of COVID-19 out there, but this is happening when there is a lot of flu out there,” he said. “Both viruses have the potential to cause severe disease and land people of all ages in the hospital. We should use caution in the choices we make and what environments we spend our time in.
“It is a good time to get vaccinated, boosted and wear a mask with the co-circulation of these viruses,” Dr. Fisk said. “If people want to stay healthy and enjoy the upcoming holiday season, they should take these protective measures.”
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
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